Let Me Hear You Sing!
School was as bad as I thought it was going to be. Whispers followed everywhere I seemed to go. The eyes followed everywhere. I could barely keep focused on the work in front of me. Collecting my things, I quickly packed them into my bag, leaving the classroom and practically running out the front of the school to my Satomobile. I didn’t want anyone to see me crying; I didn’t want anyone to see how badly everything the past week had affected me.
I was almost to my car when I felt a hand grab my arm. Turning around, frustration boiling over, I was about to rip a new one into whoever had grabbed my arm but stopped when I saw who it was. The sad understanding on her face instantly calmed my anger, and the tears started to flow when she wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug.
“That bad?” Korra asked. I hugged her back tightly, nodding slowly.
After we stood there for a moment, she pulled back, taking my hand and walking me over to my car. Opening the back passenger side door, she sat me down before handing me a water bottle. She knelt beside me as I took small sips from the water bottle, patiently waiting for me to calm down.
“I’m sorry, Asami,” she said softly after I sat the water bottle down on my lap.
I wiped my eyes slowly. “It’s not your fault, Korra. My father’s the one who made those decisions. He’s the reason everything’s like this.”
We sat there in silence, waiting for me to calm down. Wiping my eyes with my sleeve again, I took in a deep breath. Sensing that I was done thinking about the talk about my father, Korra smiled as she tried to lighten the mood.
“So, the talent show’s tonight,” she said. “What song have you picked out to sing?”
I rubbed my eyes, leaning forward and resting my head between my hands. “I don’t even think I can go up on the stage and sing tonight, Korra. All anyone is going to do once they see me is start talking about my father, and I can’t deal with that right now.”
I felt her take my hands in her, forcing me to look at her. “Then don’t let them talk about him, Asami. Show them that they should be talking about Asami the person, not Asami, Hiroshi’s daughter,” she said, the concern for me written all over her face.
Spirits, what did I do to deserve someone like her. I nodded slowly. “Are you going to be there tonight, at least?”
She smiled that wide smile. “Of course. All of your friends are going to be there tonight to support you.”
I chuckled softly. “Need a Hero.”
Korra tilted her head to the side confused. “What?” she asked.
“The song I’m going to sing. It’s called Need a Hero. Bolin and Opal talked me into doing my own version of it,” I clarified.
She laughed. “Of course they would. So are you ready for tonight?”
I smiled softly. “If you’re going to be there, then I’ll be ready.”
She smiled back with that smile I loved, and it felt as if the world around us disappeared. This beautiful girl was in front of me, my best friend of all things, and I was in love with her. She knew how to cheer me up; she knew how to make me smile. She was willing to do the things that others I had been with were unwilling to do. Yet, I don’t even know if she feels the same way that I do. And I might not ever find out.
Korra looked at me, concern registering on her face. “Asami?”
I blinked twice, looking at her. “Yeah?”
“You ok? You kind of zoned-out on me,” she said. “Something up?”
I shook my head. “Just thinking about tonight.”
I watched as she sat down in front of me. “What about tonight?”
I looked up at the sky, the clear blue sky, before returning my gaze to her. “I was just thinking about how I’m ready for it to be over with already,” I said with a smile.
Where is he! Standing with the microphone in my hand, I continued to look for Bolin. It was almost my turn to go out on the stage, and he was nowhere to be found. I groaned at the thought of doing this without him. And he said he’d be here on time. I peeked my head out of the curtain; of course the entire auditorium would be packed for this.
I sighed, stepping away from the curtain, and looked down at the microphone. As if this week couldn’t get any worse, this was about to make the top of the list. I couldn’t sing without someone accompanying me, and I had no way of getting the music in the three minutes I had left until the performance.
I rubbed the bridge of my nose, about to go find the nearest stage hand, when Korra ran up to me with a guitar case in her hand. I looked at her confused as she stopped to catch her breath.
“Sorry I’m late. Mom was late dropping me off,” she apologized with a smile as she rubbed the back of her head.
I blinked twice, trying to comprehend what she meant. “Korra, shouldn’t you be in the audience?”
Korra looked at me. “Didn’t Bolin tell you? Mako’s car broke down on their way over,” she explained as she fixed the tie she was wearing. I couldn’t help but stare at her choice of outfit: a white dress shirt with blue tie and black dress pants. She knows how to dress to impress, that’s for sure.
I rubbed my face. Lifting my hand to tell her that I wasn’t going to sing, a stage hand picked the perfect time to come tell me that it was my turn. Smiling, Korra pulled her guitar out and began to make her way out onto the stage.
“Come on; you’re up!” she said, walking out to the stool they had left out on the stage for the performance.
I watched her take a seat out on the stool, tuning her guitar before looking at me expectedly. I sighed, taking a deep breath before walking out onto the stage. A small collection of gasps as my slim, dark red dress flowed out slightly behind me during my walk out onto the stage. Thankfully, I had chosen to wear matching red flats, so I wasn’t going to be cursing myself tomorrow morning.
I looked out at the crowd, seeing a few familiar faces. Zhu Li was with Varrick as he worked on some invention that probably had to do with recording. Opal was sitting with the Airbenders, and…there was Bolin and Mako, smiling wide smiles at me. I narrowed my eyes at them when realization hit as to what they were doing. They are so in trouble for this.
Korra began to play the song slowly, just as I had taught Bolin to play it, and I was surprised to see how gracefully she played the guitar. It was easy to find the rhythm, and it flowed as gentle as if you were swimming in the music. I gently swayed with the music, lifting the mike to my mouth.
Where have all the good women gone
And where are all the gods?
Where’s the street-wise Hercules
To fight the rising odds?
Isn’t there a white knight upon a fiery steed?
Late at night I toss and turn and dream of what I need
As I sung, I could see the audience begin to quiet down, their attention focusing on Korra and I. I smiled softly, looking over at Korra as she played and I continued singing.
I need a hero
I’m holding out for a hero ‘til the end of the night
She’s gotta be strong, she’s gotta be fast
And she’s gotta be fresh from the fight
I need a hero
I’m holding out for a hero ‘til the morning light
She’s gotta be sure, she’s gotta be soon
And she’s gotta be larger than life, larger than life
I looked out at the crowd, seeing the smiles on their faces at our performance. I turned my attention to Opal, who raised both her thumbs up at me with a giant smile on her face.
Somewhere after midnight
In my wildest fantasies
Somewhere just beyond my reach
There’s someone reaching back for me
Racing on the thunder and rising with the heat
Isn’t there a superwoman to sweep me off my feet?
I slowly began to sway my hips to Korra’s guitar, finally relaxing as I continued to sing.
I need a hero
I’m holding out for a hero ‘til the end of the night
She’s gotta be strong, she’s gotta be fast
And she’s gotta be fresh from the fight
I need a hero
I’m holding out for a hero ‘til the morning light
She’s gotta be sure, she’s gotta be soon
And she’s gotta be larger than life
The tempo slightly changing, I opened my mouth to start the next verse when I heard Korra start to sing behind me.
Up where the mountains meet the heavens above
Out where the lightning splits the sea
I could swear that there’s someone somewhere watching me
I turned and watched her sing the first two lines with her eyes closed. Her eyes opened slowly, looking at me as she sung the third line. Leaving off for me to continue, I raised the mike back up to my mouth and picked up where she left off.
Through the wind and the chill and the rain
And the storm and the raging flood
Oh, her approach is like a fire in my blood
I could hear cheering from the audience, but my focus was on the performance and Korra. My eyes were locked in on hers as I continued to sing.
I’ll meet a hero
And then we’ll dance ‘til the morning light
Dreaming, she’ll lead me
Held tight,
Tonight’s the night
She smiled at the verse, joining me in the last verse.
I need a hero
I’m holding out for a hero ‘til the end of the night
She’s gotta be strong, she’s gotta be fast
And she’s gotta be fresh from the fight
I need a hero
I’m holding out for a hero ‘til the morning light
She’s gotta be sure, she’s gotta be soon
And she’s gotta be larger than life, larger than life
Korra played out the rest of the song. The auditorium erupted into applause and cheering, a standing ovation for the two of us. I vaguely remember the rest of the night. There was an award for our performance, but I couldn’t remember it. Everyone wanted to congratulate us on our performance, but I ignored them. People wanted to know who the song was actually for, but I was looking straight at her.
There she was, smiling as she accepted everyone’s compliments on the performance. If you knew her as well as I did, you could see how uncomfortable she was with all the praise. Just by watching her talk with people, you could see how well she was with them. It didn’t matter if she was the Avatar or not; she could be almost anyone’s friend if there was a willingness between the two.
Excusing myself from the crowd of people, I left the school and headed out to my car. I didn’t want to interrupt Korra and her crowd of new fans. In truth, I didn’t want to be around people who hated me for my father’s actions yet praised me for my performance, pretending to like me. I pulled out my keys, unlocking my car, when I heard footsteps running up behind me. I turned to find Korra running over.
I set my keys on my seat, turning to face her. “Everything ok, Korra?”
Stopping and setting her guitar down, she nodded, taking a moment to catch her breath. “You were…amazing tonight,” she said once she had calmed her breathing.
I smiled gently. “Thanks; you were great, too. I didn’t know you sang though.”
She smiled that goofy smile of hers, rubbing the back of her neck. “Not as great as you do.”
I shook my head, holding my hands in front of me. “You did great, Korra. You’re not just a one-trick poodle-pony it looks like,” I said, laughing a little at one of Bolin’s sayings.
She laughed with me. “I guess not.”
We stood there, smiling at each other, the silence between us comfortable. She looked down at her hands, a slight blush escaping out onto her cheeks. “So uh…who was the song for? Because I know that it’s not originally supposed to be talking about a girl,” she asked.
I felt a blush of my own start to creep up. “Um…well uh…she’s really special to me.”
“Oh,” Korra replied, sounding slightly defeated.
A slight rush of fear ran through me, and before I knew it, my hands had reached out to grasp hers. “It was for you,” I found myself blurting out, my face turning red at the realization of my words.
She looked up at me surprised, and we stood there, my hands holding hers. Slowly, I found myself leaning towards her, and she didn’t move away from me. She’s so close. She’s not moving away. She’s just…she’s so…and I… Then I heard Mako start yelling my name.
“Asami! Asami where are you!” he shouted from the steps of the school.
Hearing his shouts, Korra and I both jumped back. I silently screamed at myself for jumping as my head looked down slightly, embarrassment running across my face.
I heard a slap and looked up in time to see Opal’s hand behind Mako’s head. “You idiot! You have terrible timing, you know that?” she said, placing her hands on her hips as she started to scan for me.
“We better go find out what he needs,” Korra suggested, her face as red as I’m sure mine was right now.
I nodded, and we quickly walked over to the steps of the school. Neither of us said anything when Opal and Mako looked at us with questioning looks. We went along with the rest of the night, pretending that the almost-kiss didn’t even happen. Yet, there I was silently dreading the fact that it almost happened. Why? Why did I have to be in love with the Avatar?